1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the laminating of documents, and is more particularly concerned with a method and apparatus for protecting documents to allow the document to be removed from the laminate.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Numerous documents are laminated or sealed between transparent sheets of plastic sheet material in order to protect the document. Such lamination is quite valuable for documents of paper or the like that are to be handled. Frequent handling degrades paper documents through folding and unfolding, and absorption of oil from hands. If the ink on the document is water soluble there is the further danger that moisture on the hands will smear the ink, so the document may become illegible. Of course drawings, photographs and the like are also laminated for protection and preservation.
The common lamination of small documents includes the use of opposed sheets of plastic material, with a heat softenable adhesive on facing sides of the sheets. The document to be laminated is placed between these sheets, and the assembly is heated to soften the adhesive, and pressed to cause the adhesive to stick firmly to the document and the opposed sheet. After a brief cooling period, excess material can be cut away. The document is then firmly adhered to the two opposed plastic sheets because the adhesive covers adjacent sides of the entire sheets. As a result, the document cannot be removed from the lamination without completely destroying the document.
The above described process and apparatus serve well if a document can be sealed and never removed; however, there are some documents that need to be protected, but must subsequently be removed from the protection. By way of example, one may wish to protect postage stamps or baseball cards for occasional showing; but, valuable collectors items would lose their value if they were permanently adhered to plastic sheets. Thus, the prior art lamination technique cannot be used on these and other items that must be preserved in their original state.